The History of the Yurt - Chapter 3

We were still at Andy and Marianne’s in the early part of spring when we started planning the final move onto our own land. I contacted David, a talented friend, and he said that he would help move the structure. The appropriate use of resources was always on our minds. To get a fuller picture of the relationship between resource use (resource drawdown) and economy it is helpful to take a look at the Baltic Dry Index (BDI) starting in 2007. BDI is a value in US dollars of the cost to ship major raw materials using ships. These materials include many commodities such as grain, iron ore and coal. The chart below shows an exponential rise in global shipping and on May 20, 2008 the BDI hit an all- time record of 11,793 points. In other words, the amount of raw materials shipped around the globe was at a record high. Demand was increasing much faster than supply and costs started to go up rapidly for all of the main commodities. At that time it seemed that gas prices were rising daily as well as other commodities, including food. On a larger scale, suddenly, because of the rising costs, many people could not pay their mortgages especially those who had subprime loans. Many of these loans had been repackaged and sold and it was the recent holder of these loans, who also had trouble honoring their loans, accelerating a chain reaction. The shipping industry was also leveraged and added to the debt crisis.

Source: Bloomberg; BDIY:IND. Value as of first business day of the month.

On December 5 of 2008 the BDI dropped to 663. It had lost 94%. China’s economy was still growing and much of these meager shipments of resources were going to China. Our government, along with the Federal Reserve, initiated a policy of quantitative easing which increase the money supply to stimulate the economy. December 16, 2008 the Federal Reserve initiated ZIRP or zero interest-rate policy also to stimulate the economy. In the following years the wealthier population utilized ZIRP to fund investments that yielded high returns and much of the new money flowed to the rich. Disparity increased leaving the have-nots with less money to buy things. If we go back and look at the chart past 2008 we can see that the index never went back up and in fact at times went back down to low points. As of February 13, 2015 the BDI was at 540 which is over a hundred points lower than when it crashed. Is the global economy recovering, and if it is, what is being produced for sale that takes such few raw materials? Is our economy truly growing as we watch these reduced amounts of raw materials being disproportionately used in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed because of climate change? As we look back at the resource pie with diminished resource availability what should we cut, the resources for education, cyber security, health, education,…just look at the pie and try to decide. In any event, it was clear to Mary and I we did not want to depend on, or tie ourselves to, the economy. It seemed to us that those who depended on the conventional relationship to the economy had placed themselves in a vulnerable situation.

Mary and I spent time on the new land and started dreaming.

These rocks would be repositioned and become part of an outside eating area.

As the years went by this raw land transformed drastically.

Mark, the owner of the land we were buying, had a small saw mill and I had been purchasing lumber from his mill for years. We decided the closing date for the sale would be in May and settled the deal by shaking hands. I asked him if I could pile the pieces of the house on the land as I disassembled it and he said, “No problem”. David helped me in the dismantling and moving of the yurt. Since the house was now larger and more finished than the last move, it was a much more complex process.

Many of the improvements, such as a water collection system and the tanks, made the disassembling process more complex.

David is up on the roof helping dismantle the yurt.

Towards the end of May it became obvious that the closing was not going to happen as planned. Since the original parcel of land was owned and divided up between more than one person, the closing became more complex than either Mark or I anticipated. I asked Mark if I could build the foundation, “Sure, he replied, why not”.

We made use of old tarps to build a make-shift composting toilet.

We moved into our new shelter. Wait a minute; it feels we’re going backwards.

This shelter became an outside kitchen with water running down the roof and running into the water tanks for washing dishes and ourselves.

The solar panels powered our tools, the freezer under the green tarp and our boom box. The electrical panel (breakers, controller, inverter, etc.) was placed again under the white tarp under the panels. This electrical panel is made in such a way to be able to be moved into the house.

We decided to place the foundation on top of the ground because digging into the earth releases the carbon trapped in the soil into the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect (refer to Movement Education Offers a New Beginning – Part 1). I had built a house 20 years ago using the same above ground foundation technique using stone. The production and use of concrete is responsible for about 5% of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere and since a concrete foundation is built as one unit, the chance of damage from frost is great, requiring the foundation to be below the frost line. Unless the hole is excavated by hand the use of machinery will not only add to the global warming situation but adds to the whole throughput problem. If for any reason the building becomes obsolete future generations need to invest more throughput to remove the foundation. We decided our foundation would be made of marble set upon the leveled ground. We had the opportunity to buy two loads of discarded marble for the cost of trucking it to our site, $45 a load.

At the time the marble was delivered it seemed like an unlimited amount however there is just a small pile left.

The foundation took shape and soon it was time to erect the octagon and time to go back to Mark. “Can I erect the frame?” “Well, we’ve gone this far, go ahead”. Once all the pieces were on site Mary and I organized a work party to assemble the pieces.

Fran and Kay lend their hands.

John and I take a break to do the hoola-hoop.

Larry and Joe focus on the timbers of the tank room. Throughout the day Joe came to me and informed me that the timbers did not fit the way that it should. The problems of assembling this structure were just showing up. “Well Joe, do whatever you think should happen”.

Larry and I look over the rafter sections which were all labeled.

Conrad helps in the firsts steps of assembly.

Joe pounding the rafter section into submission.

Once the majority of the rafter sections were placed on top, things were looking great. We were down to the last four sections when things started to go awry. The people looking down at the structure from above decided that the structure had to shift clockwise while those on the ground had a different perspective suggesting it needed to shift counterclockwise. There were a number of very talented carpenters each having a different idea of what needed to be done. At the end of the day everyone was tired, there was still no solution, and we could not fit in the last four pieces.

At the end of the day four rafter sections were left.

The next day a small crew of David, my son Chris, Michael, Conrad and I gathered to finish the frame assembly. We managed to get the next to the last section in when another great discussion began. As we were discussing what to do Michael, along with Chris, used a bar and slipped the final section in.

Michael surveys the situation and decides what to do.

Conrad provided help, along with encouragement, throughout the assembly of the yurt. Conrad throughout his life searched for new challenges and as I found out would usually argue the opposite view, becoming the ‘devil’s advocate’ even when he agreed with you. I came to value these debates. I went to see Conrad as he was dying and even then with a gleam in his eye argued the opposite side. Thank you so much Conrad.

There are two directions to go in the building planning process. The conventional path utilizes architectural plans and contracts for the construction process, dividing up the responsibilities. This way of planning has its advantages in that the supplies are ordered, and then delivered, and the building process is more efficient because everything is spelled out. Usually banks require such a plan before a mortgage is given and many times the loan is divided out in installments and certain milestones must occur before the payments are dispensed. The second building process is called design-build (DB). In this case there is only one point of responsibility enabling the design and construction to occur at the same time. The overall plan might be thought out and a rough picture may be drawn on paper but the specifics can be left unplanned leaving many possibilities to change direction in the building adventure, for example when free materials show up. Our addition is a great example of these possibilities. When we built the foundation and retaining wall we were able to use the marble that was free except for the trucking. The frame turned out to be almost free (gas and oil for the chain saw) from fallen trees and trees that we cut to gain more sunlight. This process of design-build lowers throughput because materials are used instead of being destined to a landfill (another resource loss in the building of the landfill). This process gives the builder time to get acquainted with the building site and the surrounding land which may lead to improved design improvements and when this occurs there can be greater possibilities to increase soil carbon content, decrease water runoff, collect more sunlight, use gravity as energy source, situate productive gardens while at the entire time lowering throughput throughout the process. Once again I went back to Mark. Before I could say anything he said, “Don’t ask, just keep going”. My lawyer thought I was crazy to build a house on land I didn’t own. “All Mark has to do is not sell the land and he has your house! “.

Mary mixes a batch of slip straw where the straw is coated with clay then tamped into the south facing walls. Since these walls had windows there was no room for knee braces so metal bracing was installed within the walls with slip straw tamped around them.

The south facing walls were made of slip straw whereas the other walls had straw bales.

Cooking our meals in the outside kitchen.

Mary washed, dried, and treated (prevents insects)raw wool. This wool is rejected as quality wool and often is thrown out or used as mulch. Instead we process the wool and use it for insulation (refer to True Foundation of Building).

David, knowledgeable in straw bale building, was often lost in thought.

The pie shaped floor sections were installed. Again in moving the yurt things had shifted and adjustments had to be made.

These are the tanks that hold our water. The two white tanks hold drinking water that is pumped from our spring while the black tank, in the back and underneath, holds water collected from the roof for showers and baths, as well as washing clothes. The tanks are situated in such a way to optimize the force of gravity.

David and Mary are spraying liquid clay onto the walls to cut down on the cold winter air passing through the walls. We found this may have decreased the flow of air; however, it was still a very cold winter.

We are spreading out.

Mary and I continued to work on our home while the summer came to an end. Having taught our last year and having planned a bicycle camping trip out on the west coast, it was time to go. We still did not own the land and had no building permit. The town was asking Mark what was going on at his property and he helped us out by getting a building permit in his name while we were gone. Every now and then we called to see what was going on and finally one day we heard that the closing date was set. Soon after we returned we signed the papers and Voila! The land was ours. Mark and I learned a lot during this time period but mainly we learned about trust and friendship, about stress and about how to laugh. Without Mark’s help, Mary and I could not have accomplished what we did and we are so grateful.

After we returned from our trip we had to scramble to get ready for winter. We still did not have clay on the walls so once again we did the best we could in blocking the winter air from entering the house, this time using cardboard as a siding material. Since cardboard is made of cellulose, which decomposes and adds carbon to the soil, it would later be used on our gardens. At one time I got a chance to talk with a climatologist from the University of Colorado about global warming. He felt that it would be more advantageous to bury used paper thereby sequestering carbon in the soil instead of using energy and resources in the recycling process. When we use cardboard as mulch weeds are almost all eliminated, which decreases weeding drastically, and since pulling weeds releases carbon dioxide (refer to Movement Education Offers a New Beginning – part 1) and disrupts microbial life we find the use of cardboard useful in throughput reduction. In addition, worms love to metabolize cardboard into worm castings, adding fertility to the soil and also creating air spaces.

We tried complaining about our living situation to friends but the reply was, "What did you expect when you for away for six weeks instead of preparing for winter!” A temporary shower along with the composting toilet was put in the tank room. To use this room there was a hole in the wall behind the wood stove which required contorting one’s body to access. Every now and then Mary would ask, “Who lives like this?” I would explain how our standard of living is now higher than ever, but she just wouldn’t buy it.

We set up our home for the winter. At this point we are under an illusion that we are ready. Winter has not yet arrived.

A hole behind the wood stove leads into the tank room where the temporary shower and composting toilet is crammed into a small place.

Since the bed was raised it was often the warmest place in our house!

During the long, cold winter months the greatest amount of thinking and contemplation occurred. Just going out in the woods skiing gives one the space needed for the activity of thought. When considering the connection between the availability of resources and the economy the ramifications are never obvious and only predictable over the long term. The recent example is the price of oil. As shown in the Baltic Dry Index chart, demand outstripped supply and prices skyrocketed in a very short time period. There were many arguments over why this happened such as peak oil, aging refineries unable to process enough to meet demand, or a conspiracy between oil producing nations to limit production, but in any event, the result was an imbalance between supply and demand. When considering the relationship between the availability of resources and keeping the system going, better known as ‘the economy’, when the supply is stretched beyond its limit, the running of the system is greatly affected. After the resource crash of 2008 occurred, prices may have come down a little but for the most part they stayed relatively high. Investors and governments reaped the benefits of the high profits while demand remained low. Stockpiles increased and there was a so called glut and suddenly prices decreased rapidly when investors realized. Everyone enjoys low gas prices (late 2014); however, there could be unforeseen ramifications to this good fortune. Many times investments are made on margin using borrowed funds. As with the housing crash in 2008, so with the oil in 2015? A government depends on revenues collected through taxes to pay for expenses and in this case less revenue means fewer taxes and yet government expenses remain the same or even increase. Many pension companies are invested in “sure investments” such as oil, placing investors in vulnerable situations. Unless we really take a look at and discuss this cycle, most people will continue to be vulnerable to the ups and down of the economy. Everyone has spent time in investigating their special interests. We cannot know everything. There are economists that really know this concept well and they have the time to investigate if a glut or a high demand is forming and to capitalize on these principles. The money they earn using these principles are used to back up loans and reinvested, adding to their wealth.